


the kids have futures

by sweetgoodgraciousangel



Category: Original Work, T/WEWY
Genre: placebo angst? placebo angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 10:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13456527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetgoodgraciousangel/pseuds/sweetgoodgraciousangel
Summary: "Well not every Reaper wanted to be a Reaper, Phones. Remember that."





	the kids have futures

"Well not every Reaper _wanted_ to be a Reaper, Phones. Remember that."

 

Neku opened his mouth to question that, then immediately shut it. The thought was so startling that it tangled his tongue and prevented him from _making_ a coherent inquiry to what seemed like a ridiculous notion. It was wild to think that the _Reapers_ \- who made hell for the undead lives of Players - didn't want their own job.

 

But he paused. Who was he to say that he knew all the secrets of the UG? He might have spent three weeks there, but that was nowhere near enough time to unravel everything there was to know. Hell, he’d bet even some of the Reapers who’d been at it for years didn’t even know everything.

 

Still, Neku spoke.

 

"What do you mean?"

 

Hanekoma set the coffee cup down and took off his shades, reaching up to scratch the back of his head.

 

"Think about it. You were there once too. At the end of the Game, you knew you had three choices. First of which was play the Game again - "  

 

Neku's eyes fell to the counter as Hanekoma continued to speak.

 

"- and the second being become a Reaper. Third is Erasure, but to this day I've yet to see anyone dive for that option. And as much as I hate to admit it, this Game is built to benefit us in the UG more than it is for the folks who wanna return to the RG. The Game is, after all, the way Reapers survive."

 

The point system, where the more Players they Erased, the more they got, and the longer they stayed alive. Even the Composer’s enforcers weren’t safe from their own Game even when they worked for him. Hanekoma sighed, following Neku's gaze and refused to look back up. Shame was stuck in his tone, and Neku just barely detected a hint of regret at some part of it all.

 

"D'ya remember that Reaper girl Placebo?"

 

Neku nodded. She's been appearing more often than not lately, and it's the last Reaper he thought he'd get involved with again. She was so flighty before in the Game and acted so strange, and it was startling to learn she was yet another piece in the big puzzle Joshua made for his own stupid plans.

 

Hanekoma's shoulders dropped.

 

"She and her partner made it through the Game, but as we both know, only one goes back. They were tied in points, so Megumi left it up to them to who would go back. Cruel, but necessary. It was a hard decision on both of them and neither deserved the chance more, but Placebo begged her partner to go back the RG."

 

Neku was listening more intently than he thought he would.

 

"And even though they both were upset and angry at the deviousness of it all, her partner went back to the RG. Placebo was left with those same three choices."

 

Hanekoma swallowed hard, and Neku didn't like the look in his eyes. He was such a cheery, upbeat guy in general that he looked like a completely different person when he was somber. Recounting the tales of distasteful things he couldn't fix must have been frustrating. Neku didn’t think he could ever have a job like his.

 

"She couldn't go through another Game because there was no guarantee she’d make it back, and as I said, no one's jumped for Erasure. So she settled for the Reaper option. It didn't make her happy, of course."

 

Hanekoma picked his coffee cup back up and took a long sip, needing the caffeine to cope with the oncoming headache.

 

"I found her right after she got her wings. She was crying her eyes out at the sight of herself. She wanted to go home - _still_ wants to go home - but there's no reversing any of this. I took her back here, gave her a cup of coffee and a place to calm down. I guess I don't blame her for being scared."

 

He set the cup down a little too hard, and the sound it made rang Neku's ears. He looked troubled, as if a cup of his favorite blend couldn't take away the bad taste the truth left in his mouth.

 

"I guess this is what makes me so angry about it all. Most of the people in the UG are kids - or at least _were_ when they entered. Still kids at some point though. All of them young and - well... I'm one man with a big mouth and a heavy desire to keep myself alive, so I guess I won't say too much. But..."

 

Neku didn’t have to fear divine wrath for the most part, so he finished his statement for him. It was obvious by the way he looked that there were things he had to get off his chest.

 

"You'd send them all back if you could."

 

"Not all of 'em," Hanekoma acquiesced. "There are some who became Reapers because they wanted to. I'd just send the ones back who want their futures again."

 

Neku took all of it in with a shudder.

 

He could really see it now. Especially within Placebo. She was happy-go-lucky despite her fast paced working, but the closer he looked at her, at his memories of her, it was obvious that there was something like reluctance and sadness to be included in the big picture of it all. He couldn't stand the thought of being a Reaper himself.

 

It was especially hard to think that the Reapers once had to make a decision like he did at the end of their Games. He couldn't imagine them as normal people wanting a second chance, not after everything else he'd been through. And to think a Reaper was just like him, but less confident. Placebo gave up her life in order to let her partner go back to the RG and that's a sacrifice that he made as well, just with different circumstances.

 

"That's... all messed up." Neku finally concluded, unable to say much else. Hanekoma shrugged.

 

"It's the way of the afterlife. None of us can change it. There's only so much Joshua can do too, believe it or not."

 

Neku almost wished he could.

**Author's Note:**

> uhhhhhhhhhhhhhplacebo angst?


End file.
